How to Run a Bitcoin Full Node on VPS (Pruned & Full)

Set up a Bitcoin full node or pruned node on Linux VPS. bitcoind installation, sync time, resource requirements, and RPC configuration.

2026-02-17 7 min read Amsterdam, Netherlands

Why Run a Bitcoin Full Node on VPS?

A Bitcoin full node independently validates every transaction and block on the Bitcoin network — it does not trust anyone else's data. Running a node on a VPS (rather than at home) provides 24/7 uptime without leaving your home computer on, a dedicated IP address for reliable peer connections, and fast internet for syncing and broadcasting transactions.

Hardware Requirements

Node Type	RAM	Storage	VPS Plan
Pruned node	2 GB	~15 GB	Surge $7/mo
Full archival node	4–8 GB	600 GB+	Titan + extra storage

Most use cases are well-served by a pruned node, which validates all blocks but only stores recent UTXO data. For a pruned node, our Surge plan ($7/month) is perfect.

Install Bitcoin Core on Ubuntu VPS

# Add Bitcoin PPA and install
add-apt-repository ppa:bitcoin/bitcoin -y
apt update
apt install bitcoind -y

Configure bitcoin.conf

mkdir -p ~/.bitcoin
nano ~/.bitcoin/bitcoin.conf

For a pruned node (keeps ~15GB of recent blocks):

server=1
daemon=1
prune=15000
txindex=0
rpcuser=youruser
rpcpassword=yourpassword
rpcallowip=127.0.0.1

Start and Sync

# Start Bitcoin daemon
bitcoind -daemon

# Monitor sync progress
bitcoin-cli getblockchaininfo

# Check peers
bitcoin-cli getpeerinfo | grep "addr"

Initial sync on a pruned node takes 6–24 hours depending on internet speed. Our 10 Gbps Amsterdam uplink speeds this up significantly compared to home connections.

Run as Systemd Service

nano /etc/systemd/system/bitcoind.service

[Unit]
Description=Bitcoin daemon
After=network.target

[Service]
User=root
ExecStart=/usr/bin/bitcoind -daemon -conf=/root/.bitcoin/bitcoin.conf
ExecStop=/usr/bin/bitcoin-cli stop
Restart=on-failure

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

systemctl enable bitcoind
systemctl start bitcoind

For more crypto use cases including DeFi bots and Web3 apps, see our crypto VPS Netherlands page.

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Frequently Asked Questions

A pruned Bitcoin node needs approximately 15 GB of storage — suitable for the Surge plan. A full archival node (stores all blockchain data) needs 600 GB+ and grows ~50 GB per year. Most users run a pruned node.

On our 10 Gbps Amsterdam VPS, initial sync of a pruned Bitcoin node typically takes 6–24 hours. A full archival node takes several days. After initial sync, keeping up with new blocks takes seconds.

Yes. We accept Bitcoin (BTC) with no KYC required for all VPS plans. See our Bitcoin VPS Netherlands page for payment details.

A pruned node validates all historical transactions but only stores recent blockchain data (~15GB). A full archival node stores the complete blockchain history (600GB+). Both provide full security guarantees — the pruned node just cannot serve historical block data to other peers.

No. Bitcoin Core works fine with dynamic IPs and uses DNS seeds to find peers. However, a static VPS IP allows other nodes to connect to you directly as a reliable peer, making your node more useful to the network.